The Australian Prospectors & Miners' Hall of Fame is a
hall of fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
that recognises significant figures in the history of
Australia's mining industry. It was established in 2001 at a site on the
Goldfields Highway
Goldfields Highway is a generally northwest–southeast highway in central Western Australia which links the Great Northern Highway at Meekatharra with Coolgardie-Esperance Highway south of Kalgoorlie. The highway is approximately in length, ...
at
Mullingar, on the outskirts of
Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It closed due to financial difficulties in 2011, and now exists primarily as a web-based resource.
Overview
The Inductees to the Mining Hall of Fame number over 100. The institution was, after various proposals, started in Kalgoorlie in 1995. In 1997 there was an architectural competition for the design. In 1999 it was combined with the Hannans North Tourist Mine. With fundraising committees established in every state of Australia and sponsorship from the government and the mining industry, A$25 million were raised for the project.
The Hall of Fame was officially opened in October 2001.
Inductees are added over time, as well as historic and unique items of mining history.
In November 2011 the Hall of Fame had to close because of financial difficulties. The institution, founded by the mining industry rather than the
Western Australian Government, had been in a difficult financial situation in 2009, being A$600,000 in debt. Under Andrew Cook, who took over as director at the time, the Hall of Fame slashed entry fees from A$25 to A$3 a ticket and was able to, at the same time, eradicate its debt. Despite this and a bail out by the government, it was not able to stay open at the time as it continued to operate at a loss.
[Financial crisis forces troubled Mining Hall of Fame to close]
''ABC Goldfields'', published: 16 November 2011, accessed: 4 February 2014
There was some hope that the institution would reopen in late 2012. However, instead the facilities are now leased out with the tourist mine being operated by KGCM (Hannans North Tourist Mine) while the main building is closed to the public.
History
Official website, accessed: 4 February 2014
Publications and reports
* also known earlier as ''Pick and Shovel'' -
See also
* Diggers & Dealers
Diggers & Dealers is an annual mining conference held in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia which was first held in 1992.
The 2021 event represented the 30th year of running of the event. It is "Australia's premier international mining conference".< ...
Notes
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Prospectors and Miners' Hall of Fame
City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder
Mining museums in Australia
Museums in Western Australia
2001 establishments in Australia
2011 disestablishments in Australia
Halls of fame in Australia